Therapeutic shoe



Febl, 1955 J. sLovlNsKl 2,700,832

THERAPEUTIC SHOE Filed Jan. 26, 1954 INVENTOR.

United States Patent O THERAPEUTIC SHOE John Slovinski, Ottawa, Ill.

Application January 26, 1954, Serial No. 406,130

Claims. (Cl. 368.5)

The present invention relates to a novel therapeutic shoe and, moreparticularly, a novel shoe for use in physical therapy treatments ofpatients suffering from cerebral palsy and poliomyelitis.

Patients suffering from cerebral palsy and diseases having similareffects often have undeveloped and partially paralyzed leg muscles. Whenthis occurs, it is necessary to build up the leg muscles and the patientmust learn to use the muscles so that he can walk. ln the past, onemethod of building up leg muscles was to strap a weight to the patientsfoot and have him lift the foot repeatedly. While this method issometimes adequate for adults, it is often unsuitable for small infantswho have a short attention span and cannot be interested in performingthe exercise for a suicient length of time to be beneficial.

When cerebral palsy patients are learning to walk, there is often atendency for them to move their legs in a more or less uncontrolledmanner so that the legs may fiail outwardly or cross over. In addition,since such patients do not have a normal feel in their legs, it is oftenvery ditlicult for them to stand so that at best they stand uncertainly.This nervousness may cause the patients legs to shake, thereby making iteven more difficult to stand or walk. Another difficulty some patientshave is that their ankles tend to turn in or out, or they tend to drageither their heels or their toes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel therapeuticwalking shoe for patients suffering from cerebral palsy, poliomyelitisand the like, which shoe helps to build up the leg muscles of thepatient, and at the same time helps the patient to walk.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a noveltherapeutic shoe of the above described type which may be adjusted as toweight and size to fit the requirements of the particular patient.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide atherapeutic shoe of the above described type which may be unbalanced ina predetermined manner to correct the tendency of a patient to turn hisfoot or drag the heel or toe.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingwherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating the therapeutic shoe embodyingthe principles of this invention;

hFig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the novel therapeutic s oe;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3in Fig. 1 and illustrates further in broken lines how a patients footmay be strapped to the shoe;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 in Fig.3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view takenalong line 5 5 in Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 6 6 in Fig.3; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing different forms of weightsthat may be used in the novel shoe of this invention.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, atherapeutic shoe 10 embodying the principles of this invention includesa toe section 12 and a heel section 14. A tongue 16 is secured to ormade integral with the heel section 14 and extends forwardly into thetoe section 12 between a pair of guides 17. The tongue is provided withan elongated slot 18 adapted to receive ICC slidably a screw 20extending through an aperture 22 in the toe section for adjustablyconnecting the toe and heel sections together. A nut 24 and lock washer26 are applied to the screw for retaining the toe and heel sections inthe desired adjusted positions. With this structure, it is seen that theshoe of this invention may be adjusted to fit the feet of differentpatients. It is obvious, however, that the shoe may be made in differentsizes and, preferably, a relatively small shoe should be made forinfants up to the age of about 7 years, a medium size shoe should bemade for adolescents and a larger shoe should be made for adults. Asshown in the drawings, the toe section 12 is hollow and includes a soleplate 28 having an integral peripheral flange 30 depending therefrom sothat the section has a transverse cross section of inverted U-shape. Atthe forward end of the toe section is an upstanding flange 32 forconfining the toe of the patients foot and suitable strap members 34 and36 are secured to the toe section by rivets 38 for attaching the toesection to the patients foot. A toe plate 40 extends across and coversthe forward portion of the toe section bottom. This plate memberpreferably fits within the periphery depending flange 30 and is securedin position by screws 42 which are threaded into bosses 44 formedintegrally with the depending flange. ln order to facilitate walking onthe shoe, a friction pad 46 of rubber or any other suitable material issecured to the toe plate 40 by means of a film of glue 48. The heelsection 14 is also hollow and includes a sole plate 50 having aperipheral flange 52 depending therefrom. At the back of the heelsection, there is provided an upstanding flange 54 for retaining thepatients foot and suitable strap members 56 and 58 are riveted orotherwise secured to the heel section for attaching this section to thepatients foot. The rearmost bottom portion of the heel section is closedby a heel plate 60 which is secured in place by a plurality of screws 62threaded into bosses 64. A rubber friction pad 66 is also adhesivelysecured to the heel plate 60.

ln accordance with an important feature of the present invention, aweight member 68 is detachably secured within the hollow sections of theshoe. Preferably, this is accomplished by extending the screw 20 througha slot 70 in the weight. The weight 68, which is preferably made oflead, ymay be of various sizes and shapes. In the embodimentillustrated, the heel and toe sections are constructed from castaluminum so that by varying the size of the weight 68, the overallweight of the shoe may be varied through a considerable range to fit therequirements of the particular patient using the shoe. Thus, it shouldbe understood that the weight 68 may be of any size ranging from a fewounces, for example, to two or three pounds, with the only limitation onthe size of the weight resulting from the limited volume of lead or thelike that may be inserted within the shoe. As shown best in Figs. 2 and3, the weight 68 extends well into both the toe and heel sections sothat the weight is evenly distributed throughout the entire shoe. Theelongated slot 70 in the weight enables the weight to be adjustedrelative to the screw 20 so that upon adjustment of the toe and heelsections toward or away from each other, the weight may be adjusted tobalance the shoe. Alternatively, the weight 68 may be adjusted tooverload either the toe or heel section to correct a patient who has atendency to drag either his toe or heel. This result may also beaccomplished by substituting for the weight 68 a weight 68a, shown inFig. 8. The weight 68a is provided with an enlargement 72a at one endfor unbalancing either the toe or heel section of the shoe. While theweight 68 is illustrated as being uniform in size transversely of theshoe, the shoe may be unbalanced at one side by providing a weight 68b,shown in Fig. 7, which has a marginal longitudinal extending enlargement74b. The weight 68b is useful for correcting any tendency of thepatients ankle to turn either inwardly or outwardly.

The novel shoes of this invention are beneficial to the patient inseveral ways. For example, as is well known, normal walking does notbuild up the leg muscles beyond a certain point. However, with the novelshoe of the present invention, the weight of the shoe may be easilychanged by substituting weight members of different sizes so that as thepatient improves, the weight may be increased to encourage furtherimprovement. While the shoe is beneficial to patients of all ages, it isespecially useful for small infants. This is because such infants oftenwill not exercise for the required length of time and, with the shoes ofthe present invention, the infants will receive the desired exercisewhile at play. ln addition to being beneficial for exercising thepatients, it has been found that the novel shoes of this invention aidthe patients to learn to walk. ln the first place, by weighting thefeet, the patient is given a relatively secure feeling when he attemptsto stand. Thus, with increased confidence, the patient is betterprepared to attempt to walk. The additional weight on the feet alsohelps the patient to move his legs properly for walking since theweighted shoes tend to reduce overmovement or uncontrolled ailing of thelegs.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described herein, it is obvious that many structural details may bechanged without departing from the spirit and the scope of the appendedclaims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A physical therapeutic walking shoe for building up muscles damagedby cerebral palsy, poliomyelitis and the like and for helping patientshaving such damaged muscles to learn to walk, said shoe comprising ahollow heel section, a hollow toe section, means adjustably connectingsaid sections together, means for attaching said sections to a foot of apatient, a replaceable weight member disposed within said hollow heeland toe sections, and means for removably retaining said weight memberwithin said heel and toe sections, whereby said weight member may bereplaced by another weight member of a dilerent size to adjust theWeight of the shoe to the needs of the patient.

2. A physical therapeutic walking shoe, as defined in claim 1, whereineach of said sections has an inverted U-shaped transverse cross sectionand which shoe includes 35 means having friction pads covering forwardand rearward bottom portions of the toe and heel sections respectivelyto facilitate walking on the shoe.

3. A physical therapeutic walking shoe for building up muscles damagedby cerebral palsy, poliomyelitis and the llike and for helping patientshaving such damaged muscles to learn to walk, said shoe comprising ahollow heel section, a hollow toe section, a slotted tongue membersecured to one of said sections and extending within the other of saidsections, screw means extending through said other of said sections andthe slotted tongue member for adjustably retaining said toe and heelsections together, means for attaching said toe and heel sections to afoot of a patient, and a weight member having an opening therethroughdisposed within said hollow toe and heel sections, said screw meansextending through said opening in the weight member for removablyretaining the weight member, whereby said weight member may be replacedby a weight member of different size to adjust the overall Weight of theshoe to the needs of the patient.

4. A physical therapeutic walking shoe, as defined in claim 3, whereinsaid opening in said weight member is elongated to permit the positionof thc weight member within the hollow sections to be adjusted.

5. A physical therapeutic walking shoe, as defined in claim 3, whereinsaid weight member is provided with an enlarged portion which may bepositioned to unbalance the shoe to correct any tendency of the patientto turn or twist his foot improperly.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,990,970 Wood Feb. 12, 1935

